Russia’s FSB tasked to kill Prigozhin ― Budanov
After the attempt of an armed rebellion in the Russian Federation, the FSB was given the task of liquidating its organizer, owner of the so-called Wagner PMC Yevgeniy Prigozhin, head of the Main Intelligence Agency of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov said.
As Budanov stated in an interview with American journalist Howard Altman, Ukrainian military intelligence has long been aware of intentions to commit such actions inside Russia.
“We cannot talk about their serious influence [on Russia's war against Ukraine], because all these events lasted for a very short period of time. However, some damage was done to the Russian military space forces. Secondly, we do not expect the appearance of Wagner PMC in Ukraine as a separate entity performing its own operations. And I think this factor is quite important for us,” Budanov said.
He also clarified that as a result of Prigozhin's short riot, eight Russian military aircraft were destroyed, including an air-protected command post based on the IL-22 M aircraft.
According to the head of Ukrainian intelligence, Russian special services were tasked to kill Prigozhin.
“We know that the task of killing Prigozhin was entrusted to the FSB. Will they be successful in this? Time will show. One way or another, all potential assassination attempts will not be quick. They will need some time to develop suitable approaches and reach the stage when they will be ready for a large-scale operation. But I would like to emphasize that this is a big open question. Will they be able to do it? Will they dare to carry out this order?” Budanov said.